Ep. 23: The Legacies of Antisemitism and Racism: The Challenges of Anti-Antisemitism (Prof. Dr. Elad Lapidot – Université de Lille / Dr. Hannah Tzuberi – Lauder-Beth-Zion School, Berlin)

Guests: Prof. Dr. Elad Lapidot – Professor of Jewish Philosophy, University of Lille / Dr. Hannah Tzuberi – Scholar of Judaic and Islamic Studies; Co-Principal, Orthodox Lauder Beth Zion School, Berlin Hosts: Efe & Philip Bio: Prof. Elad Lapidot is a philosopher focusing on Jewish thought, antisemitism, and knowledge-politics. He earned his doctorate at the Sorbonne, taught in Bern and Berlin, and is Visiting Professor at Dartmouth College. His books include Jews Out of the Question: A Critique of Anti-Anti-Semitism (2021), Heidegger and the Jews (with Micha Brumlik), and the first Hebrew translation/commentary of Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit (with Roi Bar). Dr. Hannah Tzuberi studied Judaic and Islamic Studies at the Free University of Berlin. She researches contemporary European Jewry, collective memory, and secularism. She co-edited Jewish Friends: Contemporary Figures of the Jew (2020) and co-leads Berlin’s Orthodox Lauder Beth Zion School, the first orthodox school in German-speaking Europe since the Shoah, part of the Khahal Adass Jisroel synagogue and community center, which survived an attempted antisemitic arson attack after October 7, 2023. In this episode: October 7, 2023, reshaped Jewish life worldwide and intensified debates on memory, responsibility, and political belonging. Dr. Tzuberi and Prof. Lapidot discuss the aftermath—from attacks on Jewish institutions in Berlin to anxieties in Israel. Lapidot presents theories of antisemitism by Adorno, Sartre, and Arendt, critiquing approaches that reduce Jews to antisemitic projections and risk erasing Jewish knowledge. Tzuberi introduces the “figure of the Jew” and critiques Germany’s self-referential memory culture. They explore rigid victim-perpetrator roles, including the “figure of the Palestinian,” and their impact on justice and identity politics. They reflect on the moral imperative “Never again!" at the heart of memory culture and Walter Benjamin’s reading of Klee’s Angelus Novus, the Angel of History. Finally, the two guests share their co-founding of the Association of Palestinian and Jewish Academics and its mission and purpose. This episode was recorded on July 21, 2025. Links: Dr. Hannah Tzuberi: [https://fu-berlin.academia.edu/HannahTzuberi](https://fu-berlin.academia.edu/HannahTzuberi) Prof. Dr. Elad Lapidot: [https://pro.univ-lille.fr/elad-lapidot](https://pro.univ-lille.fr/elad-lapidot) Martin Buber on the Hebron massacre of 1929: [https://www.faz.net/aktuell/wissen/geist-soziales/martin-buber-zu-den-antisemitischen-massakern-von-1929-19309954.html](https://www.faz.net/aktuell/wissen/geist-soziales/martin-buber-zu-den-antisemitischen-massakern-von-1929-19309954.html) Berlin Center for Intellectual Diaspora: [https://intellectualdiaspora.org/de/about/](https://intellectualdiaspora.org/de/about/) Lapidot, Elad. Anti-Anti-Semitismus: Eine philosophische Kritik, Matthes & Seitz Berlin, 2021 [https://www.matthes-seitz-berlin.de/autor/elad-lapidot.html](https://www.matthes-seitz-berlin.de/autor/elad-lapidot.html) Please also check out our other episodes for multiple perspectives. Disclaimer: Guest opinions are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the podcast team. Technical legal terms are explained in Episode 36 with Prof. Claus Kreß; contested histories are addressed by Prof. Gudrun Krämer in Episode 21.